As the year 2023 drew to a close, tragedy struck, as Cale Yarborough did not live to see the New Year. The former NASCAR Cup Series legend is best known for winning three consecutive Cup championships in his long and illustrious career. So it is only natural that the late legend holds an elite status in the NASCAR community. Recently, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio announced that they would be bestowing a massive honor on the racer and also invited fans to be part of it.

The radio station revealed that they would be streaming one of three iconic races by the driver. To decide on which race will be aired, fans will get a chance to select their favorite one through voting.

READ MORE: NASCAR Legend Cale Yarborough Dies at the Age of 84

Cale Yarborough fans are in for a real treat

According to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, a full race will air this Friday. But before that, fans will need to decide what they wish to watch on a tweet posted by the media house’s official X page.

The options include the 1977 Mason Dixon 500 at Dover, the 1979 NAPA National 500 at Charlotte, and the 1977 Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville. What makes these races so special is that each of them holds a unique significance. While Dover happened to be Yarborough’s sixth win during the 1977 season, Charlotte was the scene of his fourth and final win of 1979. Finally, the third option which featured the 1977 race at Martinsville, witnessed a titanic battle with Benny Parsons, where Yarborough outran his rival by a mere 0.8 seconds. 

Given that the NASCAR Cup season has not yet started, bored fans would definitely jump at the chance for some action. All they will need to do is log in on Friday at 7 PM ET, to watch the classic NASCAR race. The race should be just what is needed to get fans swarming over during the dull off-season. Surely this is not too big of a feat for the legendary Carl Yarborough, even posthumously, since he always had a knack for attracting audiences, throughout his career, wherever he went.

Talking about attracting audiences, it all began in 1979, when the first ever fully televised NASCAR car hit TV screens all over the US. An infamous fistfight first familiarized audiences with NASCAR, which is now a global phenomenon. And at the center of it was the 5’7 blonde man who would later dominate stock car racing fans’ hearts as ‘The Timmonsville Flash’.

When Carl Yarborough exchanged blows on national television

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While Carl Yarborough is known for the four times he won the Daytona 500, he’s known even more for that one Daytona 500 race he didn’t win. February 1979, is iconic for two reasons: One for airing a full NASCAR race on television for the first time ever and two, for broadcasting one of the most iconic fistfights in NASCAR history.

It all went down to the last lap of the Daytona race where Yarborough and Bobby Allison’s brother, Donnie Allison, were going head-t0-head for victory lane. However, just before the finish line, the drivers clashed hard and eventually lost control of their cars, thus spinning out of contention. What followed was a heated altercation and an exchange of several blows between the two. Being the first of its kind to be televised nationally, the altercation would propel NASCAR to nationwide stardom. Most viewers, who were presumably watching a NASCAR race for the first time, were taken in by the rawness of the sport.

Later, reminiscing about the fight, Yarborough had said: “I had the fastest car and had it set up to where I could slingshot him on the last lap. That may have been a mistake on my part. I should maybe have gone on and passed him, gone on and won the race handily. I was trying to make a show out of it. Unfortunately, it really came out to be a show. It was one of the best things ever happened in NASCAR.”

Richard Petty, who had won the race that year, also spoke about the fight’s significance. In an interview to The Tampa Bay Times in 2019, The King had said, “It put NASCAR on the nationwide map. People thought racing was a Southern sport deal, and they saw the rednecks come out there at the end. It was the perfect storm, the snowstorm, everybody watching, how the race ended.”

It’s safe to say that Yarborough’s significance knew no bounds. The NASCAR community will surely miss the icon!

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